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So, you’re
thinking about breeding your dog… In that case, please take
the time to read this article and educate yourself. It’s
important to learn the reality and consequences prior to
actually breeding your dog.
First,
let’s discuss QUALITY. Registration papers; whether AKC, UKC
or any other legitimate registry; are not an indication of
quality. Additionally, there are a host of questionable
registries with similar acronyms such as Universal Kennel Club
and Continental Kennel Club. These registries will basically
register anything on four legs.
Even a
Championship degree isn’t necessarily an indicator of breeding
quality. There are dogs which have attained championships that
truly don’t merit being bred just as there are many wonderful
pets who should not be bred. Why you ask? Although these
dogs may have wonderful qualities, they also have defects
which should not be perpetuated in the breed. Perhaps these
defects are structural or perhaps they are defects of
temperament or type. Regardless, there is something with each
and every one of these dogs that should exclude them from a
breeding program since breeding them does not enhance or
promote the betterment of the breed.
Another
important aspect of breeding is education. It is every
breeder’s responsibility to learn canine structure and to be
able to apply that knowledge to their individual breed
Standard. The Breed Standard is the blueprint for the breed
and tells the breeder and the judge alike what the ideal dog
for the breed should look like. As a breeder, you have a
responsibility to be able to read, understand and apply your
breed Standard to your dogs and breeding program. You also
have a responsibility to understand basic genetics and health
issues and how they apply to your breed so you are able to
breed HEALTHY dogs. Testing your dogs and proving they are
clear of certain defects, which are prevalent in your breed,
is important to do prior to breeding. There is no excuse for
breeding your dog without testing and then claiming ignorance.
Another
factor involved in breeding is COST. Breeding dogs is not
lucrative if done properly. By the time you’ve paid a stud
fee, shipping, health care, testing, food, advertising et
cetera you are fortunate if you break even. If you have any
type of major medical expense such as a caesarean section your
medical costs can skyrocket and you can easily end up losing a
great deal of money on the litter. For that matter, it’s not
unheard of to have an emergency c-section and lose your bitch
and puppies in the process while incurring a large medical
bill. Then you have the issue of housing and selling the
puppies. Depending on your breed, this can be a major issue.
Some breeds don’t sell as readily as others and have a very
short window of marketability. Once some breeds reach a
certain age they become less attractive to puppy buyers and
you could potentially end up in a situation where you have
unwanted puppies. This is never a good situation for the
puppy, you or the breed.
Which of
course brings up the issue of selling. If you’re a first time
breeder you have no reputation or referrals to help you find
buyers. Many breeders, especially those of large sized or
less popular breeds, won’t even consider doing a breeding
unless they have cash deposits in advance for their expected
litter. How exactly do you plan to sell your puppies? If
your answer is the newspaper then you might be surprised to
know that puppies frequently do not sell using this method and
the quality of homes generated as well as the price they’re
willing to pay is usually poor. Are you capable of taking
care of multiple puppies for an extended period of time? This
could very well happen if you don’t have buyers for your
puppies. How would you house a third of your litter for 4 to
8 months if necessary? Are you capable of doing this? If
not, how would you resolve this issue? Would you end up
contacting your breed rescue group or taking them to the
Humane Society? Are you willing to take puppies back from
buyers who are unable to keep them? What if this happens 5
years down the road? How would you handle this situation?
All of these things happen to breeders on a regular basis and
reputable breeders take their puppies back at any time for any
reason and rehome them.
Selling
puppies is not as easy as it sounds. As a matter of fact it’s
the thing the breeder’s I know dislike dealing with the most.
It’s not that they don’t love meeting new people and
establishing relationships with clients who often become
friends through the puppies both have loved. It’s weeding
through the applicants for their puppies to find the right
home. It’s dealing with all of the people who contact them
wanting to spend $200 on a dog or wanting a dog they can breed
to their little Susie and not test, or the host of emails they
get on a daily basis from people who have bought pet store
puppy mill puppies who are having a host of issues. It’s not
that they don’t want to help or that they don’t care it’s just
that after time we all get weary and we only have so many
hours in a day. It’s also honestly frustrating for a
reputable breeder to constantly be picking up the pieces for
those who are not.
So you
still think you want to breed? Maybe you’re thinking your dog
just needs to have a litter or your kids need to raise
puppies. No dog needs to raise a litter and no child needs to
see the trauma of birth. Honestly, leaving your dogs intact
vastly increases their chance of developing uterine and
testicular cancer. The very best thing you can do for your
dogs is to spay or neuter them before 6 months of age. With
every heat, a female’s chance of mammary cancer increases.
Spay her before she ever has a heat unless she has an
absolutely positive contribution to make to her breed’s gene
pool. Additionally, not all bitches are meant to be a
mother. Some never stand for breeding, have serious delivery
problems and never accept their puppies. Puppies can be born
dead or malformed and of course they can die hours, days and
weeks after birth as well. So, although there can be a great
deal of joy involved in raising a litter, there can also be a
great deal of tragedy and there is always a lot of work!! If
you can’t handle potential disaster and the tremendous
workload involved in raising a litter then breeding is not for
you!
Then
there’s the time factor. Rarely does a bitch have her litter
at 11 am – it’s usually 3 am. When she does go into labor it
can be an all night affair, but it doesn’t end there. Most
bitches can’t be left alone the first few days after delivery,
which means you’re in for several sleepless nights and you can
forget going to work. If she doesn’t have enough milk, you’ll
need to supplement your litter and that means every two hours
for several weeks. Even if she does, you still have to check
and weigh the puppies daily as well as check the bitch and
feed her twice a day. At roughly three weeks you’ll need to
start weaning your babies and that means making their food
three times a day! Then there’s socialization, grooming and
cleaning the puppy pen – every breeder’s favorite job! NOT!
Be prepared for lots of clean-up duty – it never ends! If all
that isn’t enough you have the hours of interviewing buyers,
doing paperwork, advertising... Most breeders say they spend
two to three hours a day on each litter they raise at bare
minimum. If you can’t afford to spend that kind of time then
you don’t have time to raise puppies.
I’ve just
touched the tip of the iceberg here, but I hope I’ve given you
a few things to ponder before you breed your dog. Those of us
who are going to breed have an obligation to do so responsibly
and that means being educated about our breed and selective
about the dogs we use. It means doing everything we can to
breed healthy, beautiful and mentally sound companions. It
means giving them quality medical care, food and a clean
loving environment. It means choosing our buyers wisely to
ensure our dogs have loving forever homes and never end up
unwanted in a pound somewhere. There’s so much involved in
breeding responsibly it really isn’t something for everyone.
It requires a serious dedication to your breed in order for it
to be in the best interest of the breed, the individual dogs
and the buyers who eventually own the puppies produced.
Please don’t just breed to produce puppies, we already have an
overpopulation and dogs who are unwanted and euthanized on an
hourly basis. Please think before you breed and if you do
breed, please breed wisely.
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